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Academic Integrity

Is Paraphrasing
Considered Plagiarism?

5 Min Read • Dec 27, 2025
Is Paraphrasing Considered Plagiarism?

It is one of the most common questions students and writers ask: "If I rewrite it in my own words, do I still need to cite it?"

The short answer is: Yes.

Many people mistakenly believe that plagiarism is only "copying and pasting." However, plagiarism is the theft of ideas, not just words. Paraphrasing is a legitimate writing tool, but if you present someone else's specific idea as your own—even if you've changed every single word—it is still considered plagiarism.

The Difference: Ethical Paraphrasing vs. Plagiarism

To stay on the safe side, you must understand the distinction between proper rewriting and "patchwriting."

✅ Ethical Paraphrasing

  • ✓ Significantly changes sentence structure.
  • ✓ Uses new vocabulary.
  • ✓ Always includes a citation.

❌ Plagiarism

  • × Keeps the same sentence structure.
  • × Only swaps a few synonyms.
  • × Fails to credit the source.

What is "Patchwriting"?

Patchwriting is the most dangerous form of accidental plagiarism. This happens when you rely too heavily on the original text while writing.

As we established in our definition of paraphrasing, true rewriting requires you to understand the source deeply. Patchwriting occurs when you don't fully understand the content, so you just replace "happy" with "glad" and "walked" with "strolled," leaving the skeleton of the sentence identical to the original.

The Safety Checklist

Before submitting your work, ask yourself these three questions:

  • 1
    Is the sentence structure significantly different from the original?
  • 2
    Did I write this without looking at the source text?
  • 3
    Most Important: Did I cite the original author?

Real Examples

The Source Text
"Global temperatures have risen by approximately 1.1 degrees Celsius since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide emissions."
❌ Plagiarized Version

"World temperatures have gone up by about 1.1 degrees Celsius since the late 1800s, a shift caused mostly by more carbon dioxide output."

Why: Structure is identical; no citation.

✅ Correct Version

According to recent climate data, the rise in carbon emissions has led to a global temperature increase of 1.1 degrees Celsius over the last century (NASA, 2023).

Why: New structure; source cited.

Conclusion

Paraphrasing is not a loophole to avoid giving credit. It is a way to demonstrate your understanding of a topic by integrating it into your own work. As long as you rewrite distinctively and provide a citation, you are safe from plagiarism.

Ensure your work is unique

Use VerbEdit to generate unique variations of your text that are distinct enough to avoid patchwriting.

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